About Us

INSURANCE CAREER BY DEFAULT;
WINE CAREER BY DESIGN.

Ask Les, and he’ll say his fascination with red wine started with a taste of Roodeberg back in 1973. While there’s more to that story, the desire to know more had begun.

Inspiration struck in 2000. Les and his long-term friend and business partner, Mike Church, were cruising a canal in the South of France, a spittoon’s distance from the heart of Bordeaux.

Les and Mike took the high road, promising good business practice while drawing inspiration from iconic South African brands. Eventually, they settled on a Stellenbosch Bordeaux-style blend, which was to evolve into the classic wine we now know and love as The High Road Director’s Reserve.

2003 welcomed our maiden vintage, with the following years 2004 and 2005 fondly remembered as the experimental years when the adventure was still finding its feet and our wines were created at various locations.

Hoorah! Our first significant accolade lit up in 2006 when we won the Investec-sponsored Winemakers’ Choice award for our Bordeaux-style blend. Followed by our big move to Bosmans Crossing in 2007, bolstered by a Double Gold Veritas Award. A year to remember!

Until 2009, The High Road’s production style was more traditional, old-world Bordeaux blends. However, 2010 brought a turning point to our winemaking with fresher, bolder Bordeaux styles that people love and enjoy. Wines that are simply DELICIOUS.

Today, we are still committed to following our High Road Best Practices that began as a seed of a concept on that inspirational cruise in France. Our focus is on top-quality Bordeaux grape cultivars of Stellenbosch origin, using optimum cellar practices and using exclusively French oak barrels to nurture our wines to maturity.

This year – 2022 – we at The High Road Wines celebrate 20 years of wine production. Two decades of a winemaking journey marked by speed bumps, significant milestones and countless awards.

Our biggest accolade is the continued support we receive from our High Road family of wine lovers.

Thank you for enjoying our wines